Variations of History

The catalyst of the Civil War is often debated today. Its causes are many, but still some people try to pinpoint one specific cause. Slavery is a good example of one of these causes. Attending a Southern elementary and middle school, I remember always hearing a completely different story though. From the beginning of the fourth grade when we began studying the Civil War, the teacher and every guest speaker made it completely clear that the real reason for the Civil War was Northern aggression and the South making a stand for State's Rights. The emphasis was on State's Rights. One guest speaker I particularly remember even went so far as to say that slavery was hardly a cause at all, since the only people who could afford slaves were rich, and they didn't usually join the army.

It's interesting how defeated cultures try to hide the oppressive actions of their forefathers. This is not what happens in Sherman Alexie's poem Inside Dachau. The Germans in that poem are praised by the speaker for not hiding past racism. The second tenet of CRT seems like it might explain why the South teaches it like it does, but I can't see the materialistic gain of the guest speaker at an Elementary School saying slavery was dying in the South before the Civil War. He made it seem like the South had slavery under control and could've eliminated it themselves. Regardless of materialistic determinism the truth should be found in textbooks, but it's hard to pick the right one when there are so many variations.